www.stephmastini/forgotten ones /

Six years today I had a double mastectomy with reconstruction.  I am truly blessed and I am still going strong....Living my life and looking forward to a much needed vacation. One thing I learned the last six years is to start saying no.  I have been taking care of everyone my whole life it seems ...started when I was nine and my sister was born. I was a young single parent of two, on top of that.  My Dad and Mom were also part of my care giving lifestyle.  Now, I have stepped back. We need to take care of ourselves and we forget sometimes. I didn't even realize I had cancer when I was caring for my father since all I did was run run run... I do not regret any of the time I have spent being a caregiver but now it's time for me.

Hi everyone. Life has a way of throwing curve balls.  I just had one thrown directly between my eyes. I recently had my annual PET testing and CT scan and I was told that a small node was found on my right lung .  I asked my oncologist for more testing and he said I could "wait another six months".  I refuse to take that course and I am following up With a new oncologist and thoracic surgeon . My father passed away from lung cancer .  The word "wait" does not exist in my vocabulary. It's time for action. An update..I went for my colonoscopy last week and the biopsy shows that  I have four nodes, one is precancerous. They removed them  and I pray that it was in time ...I eat very well but stress is a huge component ..I didn't stress about my breast cancer but I have noticed that I have not been taking my life day by day.  I stress about the future. Time to stop that behavior since it only hurts me.